„We are extremely grateful to Lithuania and the Lithuanian government, which have welcomed thousands of Belarusians, but please do not group Belarusians with Russians and those who help the regime,“ Tsikhanouskaya said in a commentary sent to Elta.
„We agree that supporters of the war and the dictator should not have the right to live in Lithuania. We agree that those who left on humanitarian visas should not return because their security is threatened. This norm is already in the law. We do not support restrictions on all Belarusians,“ the opposition leader stressed.
Therefore, Ms Tsikhanouskaya is critical of the initiative to restrict Belarusians' ability to return to their homeland.
„We understand the security concerns of Lithuanian politicians, but this draft law does not solve the security problem; it affects ordinary Belarusians, not the regime, and will help Putin and Lukashenko to isolate our country and our people further“, she stressed.
Moreover, she said the bill contradicts the EU's Common Policy on Belarus and the Council of the European Union's conclusion, calling for promoting Belarusian mobility and people-to-people contacts.
„Lithuania already has an effective system in place for screening all applicants for residence permits, and agents of the regime will look for other ways to penetrate the EU. Lithuanian residence permit holders are mainly repressed activists, students, ordinary workers, drivers, entrepreneurs, and IT professionals. They supported the protests; now they support Ukraine,“ stresses the Belarusian opposition leader.
Calls on Belarusians to limit travel to their homeland
Tsikhanouskaya also called on her compatriots to limit their travel to Belarus.
„Today, the border with Lithuania and Poland is the only link to the free world for Belarusians living in a gulag, while for us, it is an opportunity to keep in touch between those who are in exile and those who stay. However, given the dangers, we urge Belarusians and Lithuanians to limit unnecessary travel to Belarus,“ the politician said.
ELTA recalls that the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK) approved a compromise proposal on Wednesday to limit the number of Belarusians' trips to the homeland.
It was decided that residence permits granted to Russian and Belarusian citizens in Lithuania would be revoked if they returned to their home country more than once every three months and their travels threatened national security.
